On the Occasion of Accepting the R. Pruden Herndon Community Service Award
In 1964, Atlanta Mayor Ivan
Allen, Jr. appointed A.T. Walden to a pro hac position on the Atlanta Municipal
Court. After Walden’s death the
following summer, Mayor Allen appointed Walden’s protege, Rachel
Pruden Herndon to serve in what was essentially the same position.
Some might say that these events
were of little significance. After all, these were merely pro hac positions in
the Atlanta Municipal Court. At the time of his appointment, Judge Walden had
already practiced law for 43 years. At the time of her appointment, Judge
Herndon had practiced for 21 years. But part of the significance lies in the
fact that Judge Walden and Judge Herndon were the first black judges in Georgia
since Reconstruction. Viewed in that context we see the actions of Mayor Allen
as particularly noteworthy.
Among other things, these
appointments were the start of a trend, as other persons of African descent
began to ascend to the bench, but for the next 14 years, they were all by
appointment, until Judge Clarence Cooper in 1979 became the first Black judge
to take office by county wide election.
Judge Cooper’s election, and the subsequent
elections of individuals such as Leah Sears and Kimberly Esmond Adams, proved that
Georgia voters can select highly qualified judges who are representative of
the communities they serve, if they are only given a chance. Many of us see this as a positive
development, but apparently not all of us see it that way.
It appears that there are some
who view this triumph of democracy as threatening. And so we are witnessing the emergence of a
disturbing new trend in which judicial vacancies are timed in a manner to
deprive the voters of the opportunity to fill vacant positions. Today, in places like Fulton County, these vacancies
are more often filled by appointment, the appointing authorities are not like
Ivan Allen, and the bench is becoming less and less representative.
Public institutions are more likely
to be accountable to the people – more likely to instill the confidence of the
public - if those who administer them are representative of the communities
they serve. If the people who appoint
judges can’t be made to understand this, then let the voters fill the vacancies,
and let’s make sure that they have candidates to choose from who are highly
qualified and who are representative of their communities.
There are those of us who are
working to make this happen. We hope that
you will join us.
